Mo

Biodata

Background / History

Mo belongs to a large family descended from Mozi. Its current head, Mo Yu, departed for the stars a hundred years earlier and has not returned. Mo is his father's fourth son, while his father is the family's second son; both are sidelined within the family 49 50.

Despite his overlooked position, Mo has established himself as an interstellar merchant. He claims to be among no more than ten people in the Solar System capable of obtaining high-entropy alloy. Cheng Qi's offer of 12,450 ingots represents his largest transaction in nearly three years and an opportunity to regain prominence in the interstellar trading market 24 49.

Appearance

Mo wears a suit and polished shoes, maintaining a formal appearance even when arriving inside a tightly fitted transport box 11 48.

• Eyes: Pure black irises containing three interlocking rings that emit a pale-blue glow 11.
• Posture: Initially stands straight and moves without apparent difficulty 11.
• Later deterioration: Becomes frail enough to need a cane; develops golden specks in his pupils and an aversion to light, identified as symptoms of poisoning 48 49.

Personality

Mo is polite, rational, and normally restrained. He apologizes for delaying his first meeting with Cheng Qi, quotes standard market prices, and refrains from questioning the source of valuable goods. He explicitly cautions that higher-grade humans are not universally moral, while assuring Cheng Qi that he can trust him in business 11 12 49.

His composure breaks when extraordinary profits are at stake. Cheng Qi's first high-entropy alloy offer makes him swear and awkwardly urge the scavenger not to risk his life with inferior genetic agents. He also uses dry humor and pointed wordplay when confronting Cheng Qi about missing shipping containers 24 33 47 48.

Mo does not exploit Hana's attempt to seduce him. He refuses her advances, warns her to wear a protective suit, and later encourages Cheng Qi to look beyond Earth toward the wider universe 11.

Abilities & Skills

Higher-Grade Genetics

Mo possesses D-grade genes and displays unusually keen perception 11.

• Detects Cheng Qi watching from behind a garbage heap and walks directly to him 11.
• His perception impresses Cheng Qi, though the scene does not establish a specific supernatural sensing ability 11.
• His genetic advantages do not prevent the cellular fluid toxin from progressively weakening him 48 49.

Trade and Procurement

Mo has access to valuable materials, black-market genetic agents, and substantial financial resources 12 24 49.

• Supplies failed black-market catalysts that he describes as something only he can obtain 12.
• Uses scanning balances to assess purity, weight, and market value 12 24.
• Provides a ten-million-credit deposit and later offers a five-hundred-million-credit line before completing the corresponding alloy transactions 24 49.
• Recognizes the theoretical gene-repairing properties of semi-silicon-based blood through an instrument scan 49.

Blockade Smuggling and Intelligence

After Earth is locked down, Mo continues trading through biological transport devices and off-world connections 24.

• Uses containers and a scale made from special biological materials that can evade most detection signals 24.
• Sends an enlarged box through the blind spots of Alliance warship scans, with himself inside 48.
• Warns that larger or more frequent shipments risk seizure and could endanger him personally 24.
• Learns that the Alliance combat squad purchased black-market weapons beyond its normal military allotment; its intended operation remains unknown 50.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Aircraft and starship — Uses a compact, technologically advanced aircraft for his first Earth visit; later communicates from his starship's cockpit 11 24.
• Scanning balances — Carries a miniature golden balance and sends Cheng Qi a black biological-material version for remote transactions 12 24 49.
• Biological transport boxes — Autonomous delivery containers powered by biofuel engines. Cheng Qi retains several without permission and synthesizes them into upgraded transport platforms 24 28 38 47.
• Black leather case — Holds purchased alloy and Huo Linzhong's protected business card 12.
• Cane — Supports him after his physical condition deteriorates 48 49.
• Semi-silicon-based blood — Receives a single drop from Cheng Qi as an antidote for his family's toxin; it remains effective even when diluted ten thousandfold 49.

Relationships

• Cheng Qi — Begins as an alloy supplier and becomes a trusted trading partner and friend. Cheng Qi's discovery of the poisoning and gift of an antidote turn their commercial relationship into a substantial personal debt 11 23 49 50.
• Hana — A stranger who seeks to conceive a higher-grade child with him as a route off Earth. Mo rejects her advances and explains her motive to Cheng Qi 11.
• His father — Shares Mo's marginalized position within the family and has also been feeling unwell by the time Mo learns about the toxin 49.
• Mo Yu — Head of Mo's family; absent on a journey among the stars for a century 50.
• Family physician — Initially trusted by Mo as one of the Solar System's foremost physicians. Cheng Qi warns that he may know about, or be involved in, the poisoning; his culpability is unconfirmed 49.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Establishing Trade with Cheng Qi

• Mo's first meeting exposes Cheng Qi to the genetic and material gulf between scavengers and off-world humans, helping redirect his ambitions toward breaking the class barrier 11 12.
• As a free gift, Mo provides Huo Linzhong's old business card and suggests that the Muon Research Institute may contain abandoned equipment and findings. The card becomes a lead for Cheng Qi's investigation 12.
• Delivery of genuine genetic agents establishes Mo as Cheng Qi's reliable channel to the outside world 23.

The Mo Family Poisoning

• Mo unknowingly gifts Cheng Qi his family's custom High-Energy Protein Extract, a luxury beverage described as twenty percent more effective than the commercial version 39.
• Cheng Qi's Standard Template Construct detects a rare, slow-acting toxin in the drink. Concern for Mo—and the need to preserve his trading outlet—motivates Cheng Qi's search for an antidote in Kyoto 39 42.
• Zhi Zhi's blood proves capable of neutralizing the toxin. Cheng Qi later recognizes poisoning symptoms in Mo and gives him a drop without demanding payment 45 49.
• Mo promises to investigate immediately upon returning home and pledges his family's help if Cheng Qi's warning proves true 50.

Warning About the Alliance Squad

• As an initial expression of gratitude, Mo reveals the combat squad's unexplained black-market ammunition purchases and warns that all of Garbage Earth may be in danger 50.
• He leaves in his Biological Transport Box to investigate his family's situation. Cheng Qi subsequently recalls his companions to safety and goes to observe the squad himself 50.

Notable Quotes

“Advanced humans aren't perfect. Some are as you describe, but not all.” 12

“The last time we met, we were doing legitimate business. Now we're smuggling.” 24

“If you ever need us, my entire family will go through fire and water for you.” 50